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Jim & Yahtzee's Rhymedown Spectacular: Where the Hype Ends 
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on 19 June 2013, 9:00 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 9:00 am
Put on your poetry hats and join two of the greatest wordsmiths of our generation as they fill your ears with verse.
Hotline Miami 2 Gets Buckets Of Blood Wrong Number Teaser
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 19 June 2013, 9:12 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 9:12 am
Remember when you used to jumble up all your LEGO playsets and make your own pretend cross-franchise stories? They are making that into a movie.
Trailers: Hotline Miami 2 - Teaser Trailer
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 19 June 2013, 9:30 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 9:30 am
Joe Danger 2 Recruits TF2 Crazies For Steam Release
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 19 June 2013, 9:45 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 9:45 am
The Daily Grind: Should weather systems impact gameplay?
Posted by Massively on 19 June 2013, 9:00 am
Posted by Massively
on 19 June 2013, 9:00 am
Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous
What if a pass got snowed in so that you couldn't reach a certain area? What if whiteout conditions kept you from seeing that face-eating monster 10 feet away? What if wind gave your character an extra bounce in his or her step if it came from behind or actually slowed you down if you were facing into it? What if lakes dried up in drought or lightning could strike metal objects (like, um, your plate mail)? Would it be more immersive for you or just more annoying?
Seeing as most of the potential ways that weather could interact with us are negative, this might be a silly question. Still, I'm putting it out there: Should weather systems impact gameplay, and if so, how?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Should weather systems impact gameplay? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Nintendo Blames Retailers for Limited Console Colors
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 19 June 2013, 6:50 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 6:50 am
If you ask fans of the genre to list great turn-based tactical games, you will almost invariably end up with a list of titles running on consoles, most of them handheld. On the PC the arrival of real-time strategy games in the 90's pretty much killed the turn-based genre, except for a few classics like Heroes of Might & Magic that kept producing sequels. But in the last couple of years something happened to the world of video games: The rise of the small game development studio. Both Steam on the PC and the App Stores for iOS, Android, and Windows 8 created viable distribution channels for cheaper games. And that changes what kind of games are getting made.
If you are planning to make a multi-million dollar triple-A PC or console game that will cost $60, and you market research tells you that 70% of players prefer real-time over turn-based, you are likely to make your game real-time strategy. Because that is what you think your customers want, what will sell more copies. But if you are a medium or small game development studio and realize that you can't compete with Starcraft II, you might go for the underserved 30% market instead. Today we live in an overcrowded market for games, there are too many games chasing too few customers, and not doing what everybody else does makes eminent sense.
An additional factor is nostalgia, with Kickstarter showing everybody very clearly how popular some old brands still are. And so there is a kind of revival of turn-based tactical games on the PC as well as on tablets. XCOM was a hit. Battle Isle is bound to make a comeback on the iPad. Ubisoft announced Might & Magic X: Legacy, a tile-based tactical role-playing game. I've already written a lot about Card Hunter. And now even Skulls of the Shogun, which originally weirdly was a Windows 8 exclusive, has been announced to come to any PC via Steam. So I am looking forward to playing a lot of turn-based tactical games on the PC and iPad in the future. Turn-based is back!
If you are planning to make a multi-million dollar triple-A PC or console game that will cost $60, and you market research tells you that 70% of players prefer real-time over turn-based, you are likely to make your game real-time strategy. Because that is what you think your customers want, what will sell more copies. But if you are a medium or small game development studio and realize that you can't compete with Starcraft II, you might go for the underserved 30% market instead. Today we live in an overcrowded market for games, there are too many games chasing too few customers, and not doing what everybody else does makes eminent sense.
An additional factor is nostalgia, with Kickstarter showing everybody very clearly how popular some old brands still are. And so there is a kind of revival of turn-based tactical games on the PC as well as on tablets. XCOM was a hit. Battle Isle is bound to make a comeback on the iPad. Ubisoft announced Might & Magic X: Legacy, a tile-based tactical role-playing game. I've already written a lot about Card Hunter. And now even Skulls of the Shogun, which originally weirdly was a Windows 8 exclusive, has been announced to come to any PC via Steam. So I am looking forward to playing a lot of turn-based tactical games on the PC and iPad in the future. Turn-based is back!
Screen Australia Injects $6 Million Into Dying Games Industry
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 19 June 2013, 4:05 am
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 19 June 2013, 4:05 am
Some buried code in the latest Steam client update has revealed something known as the "shared game library."
GWJ Conference Call Episode 349
Posted by Gamers With Jobs - Conference Call on 19 June 2013, 12:36 am
Posted by Gamers With Jobs - Conference Call
on 19 June 2013, 12:36 am
Episode 349 - June 19th, 2013
Last of Us (no spoilers), State of Decay, Tiger Woods Golf 14, Rift Free to Play, Tons of Hands-On E3 Games, Your Emails and More!
Last of Us (no spoilers), State of Decay, Tiger Woods Golf 14, Rift Free to Play, Tons of Hands-On E3 Games, Your Emails and More!
(Spec Scripts 56.3 MBs, 1:38:21)
This week Shawn, Elysium and Cory chill out and talk E3 aftermath.
Media Link
Dark Matter Imagines a Modern Day Metroid
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 18 June 2013, 11:46 pm
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 18 June 2013, 11:46 pm
Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Patches, Free-to-Play, Dev Diaries
The team decided not to implement tollbooths in the patch but created a more "malleable" system to fill the role. Several other small changes, including those to taxes and GvG features, are detailed in the delay post.
To fill the void between now and the 25th, Ankama has put up a new dev diary to show off Haven Worlds and all the goodness that is to come. Check it out after the break!
Continue reading WAKFU's Haven Worlds update postponed
WAKFU's Haven Worlds update postponed originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Delay announcement
Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, MechWarrior Online
Fortunately for Quickdraw pilots, the machine is quick, jump-capable, and generally very able to get in close and unleash its payload. This new 'Mech is available in three variants alongside the new Champion Hunchback, and you can take a look at the precise loadouts in the patch notes. Or you can take a gander at the preview video for the machine embedded just past the cut.
[Source: Piranha Games press release]
Continue reading Quickdraw added to MechWarrior Online's hangar
Quickdraw added to MechWarrior Online's hangar originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Patch Notes
Gazillion adds Colossus, Ms. Marvel costumes to Marvel Heroes
Posted by Massively on 18 June 2013, 9:00 pm
Posted by Massively
on 18 June 2013, 9:00 pm
Filed under: Super-hero, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes
The newest update adds a pair of 1980s-era outfits, one for Ms. Marvel and one for Colossus. Both are available either via an in-game loot drop or the cash shop. Click through to the original post for more info and a couple of close-up images.
Gazillion adds Colossus, Ms. Marvel costumes to Marvel Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Announcement
EU EverQuest II launching with ProSiebenSat.1 'on or around June 20'
Posted by Massively on 18 June 2013, 10:00 pm
Posted by Massively
on 18 June 2013, 10:00 pm
Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play
The blurb says that European players will continue to be able to play on U.S. servers, and vice versa, and SOE has uploaded a list of FAQs to help ease the transition. SOE also says that Euro players will have their own localized forums and customer service, but players with existing SOE accounts will still be able to access the U.S. forums.
Hit the link to read the full announcement.
EU EverQuest II launching with ProSiebenSat.1 'on or around June 20' originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Announcement
Gunpoint Recouped Its Development Costs in 64 Seconds
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News on 18 June 2013, 8:42 pm
Posted by The Escapist : Latest News
on 18 June 2013, 8:42 pm
Tom Francis has earned enough from Gunpoint to become a full-time game developer and hire additional staff to boot.
All game servers will be down for maintenance on Wednesday, June 19th, 2013, at 5am PDT / 7am CDT / 8am EDT / 12pm UTC/GMT. Estimated downtime is approximately 4 hours. With this maintenance: The Letter Collector...
Double XP Weekends are back
Posted by Article | Star Wars: The Old Republic on 18 June 2013, 5:53 pm
Posted by Article | Star Wars: The Old Republic
on 18 June 2013, 5:53 pm
Keep cool this summer with Double XP Weekends! Earn Double XP and Legacy XP during the next three weekends starting June 21st!
Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, EverQuest Next, Sandbox
Yes folks, the working title has now been declared the official title. Surprise! OK, maybe it isn't really a surprise, but there were plenty of creative ideas floating around for possible names that could have been used, not to mention ones I'm sure we haven't even heard yet. But for now, EQN is set in stone... or is it? The game itself was totally blown up and redesigned from scratch, so it stands to reason the name could follow suit.
Tell us, Massively readers, what name would you slap on the side of this sandbox? Give us your best ideas in the comments below.
EverQuest Next's official title is... EverQuest Next originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Twitter
Filed under: Podcasts, MMO Industry, Massively Meta, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous
Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!
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Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 252: Eee Eee Eee
Massively Speaking Episode 252: Eee Eee Eee originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, PvP, Free-to-Play, RIFT
The Black Garden warfront got a domination mode added, which allows players to wrest for the control of two key points. Also sporting a new domination mode is the Karthan Ridge warfront, although this one is a little more complex. Players in Karthan Ridge have to fight over five control points; the control points on the enemy's side of the map award more score points than do those on the on the home team side.
The hotfix also reinstated the second dimension option to players which had been disabled after the 2.3 patch.
RIFT adds warfront modes on a daddy's day off originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Hotfix notes
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, MMO Industry, News Items
Man of Steel star Henry Cavill recently told GQ that he quite enjoys both Skyrim and World of Warcraft. Cavill's such a big fan of the latter, in fact, that he missed Man of Steel director Zack Snyder's telephone call offering him the role of Superman. "I saw it was him [calling]," Cavill told British GQ, "but the thing is, you can't save World of Warcraft, you can't pause it. It's live."
Superman saves the world... of warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: GQ
- Via: WoW Insider
Double your pleasure and double your experience in Star Wars: The Old Republic
Posted by Massively on 18 June 2013, 8:00 pm
Posted by Massively
on 18 June 2013, 8:00 pm
Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic
The first weekend starts on June 21st at 2:00 p.m. EDT and runs until 3:00 a.m. EDT on June 24th, while the second weekend runs at the same hours from June 28th to July 1st. The third and final weekend starts at 7:00 a.m. EDT on July 4th and runs all the way until July 8th at 3:00 a.m. EDT, which should give you ample time over the holiday to buff up your levels.
Double your pleasure and double your experience in Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Double XP weekends are back!
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